Shuensha
by xh8-the-famx
Summary: Sakura always had a good life. Now a twist has come along. Turns out, the Harunos weren't her family. Who is the brother who left her in Konoha? Why has Pein taken an interest in her? And what's up with Itachi? She can't like the older Uchiha, can she?
1. Shuensha

**Um, hi there. Here's a story I've kinda been working on. It's my first one, so please don't be really hard on me. Enjoy! And I own NOTHING! (This includes Naruto, smart ones)**

**Oh, one more thing. *SPOILER ALERT* Nagato=Pein.**

It was the middle of the night. Almost no one was up and the guards around Konoha were sluggish and tired. What were the chances someone would bother to sneak in, anyway?

But there was always that chance.

A boy, not much older than seven, scaled the tall Konoha wall and flew past the guards, landing expertly on a roof. As if he had done it a million times before. He held in his arms a small, pale pink bundle. He looked down at it with his ringed eyes.

"Sorry, sis. I can't have you with me. I don't want you killed."

The boy kissed the infant's large forehead.

"I'll be back for you. I promise."

He took out a note.

_Sorry to leave her here like this. Her name is Sakura, and she has no family. I cannot take her with me. I am her last living relative, but I am too inexperienced with children to be able to keep her and provide for her. I travel too much as well. I am her brother, and I love her. Please take care of her._

The boy with bright red hair did not sign his note as he tucked it into the blanket around the baby, along with the little money he could spare and his brotherly love.

"Bye, Sakura."

He left her on the Hokage's doorstep and ran.

Nagato didn't look back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Skip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura Haruno had gone through many phases in her life. She had grown up with a mother and father, the Harunos, who were now dead. Her father had died when she was eight. Her mother had died just a few years ago when she was almost seventeen. She had had no siblings and so she was all alone now, at age eighteen. Sakura had become a shinobi. She had loved a selfish boy called Sasuke Uchiha who never loved her back and only put her down. She had been picked on because of her large forehead, which she had grown into, and she made a few friends. Sakura's best friend now was Naruto Uzamaki, an outgoing boy with bright blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He was next in line for the Hokage and a very powerful ninja. He was also the container for the nine-tailed fox, but what did that mean? Sakura loved him like the brother she never had.

She was currently reporting to her mentor, Tsunade, the current Hokage, for news about something. She was in ANBU and proud of it. She was dressed normally.

"Ah, Sakura, good to see you. I have some news for you," the blonde female Hokage said. Lady Tsunade was very pretty despite her age, although her jutsu helped. She was a renowned medic-nin and she had long blonde hair in two low pigtails on her back and almond brown eyes. There was a seal in the shape of a blue diamond on her forehead, and she had a large chest.

"What would that be, shishou?" Sakura asked. Sakura herself had long pink hair that reached her waist and bright green eyes. She had high cheekbones, a small rounded nose, full pink lips, a larger-than-usual chest, and long legs. She was beautiful.

"Sit down, Sakura," the Hokage said with a sigh.

Sakura was a bit confused but did as her mentor bid and sat down in the red chair placed before her desk.

"Sakura, the family that now lives in your old house found this during their cleaning when their child fell on a loose floorboard." Tsunade handed her a small scroll and a note. "The contents are interesting."

Sakura read the small note, and her eyes widened.

"W-what? I was adopted?" Sakura said in shock.

"Apparently. The scroll contains more detail about the adoption and another…secret matter."

Sakura open the scroll quickly and began to read it.

_Name: Sakura_

_Eye Color: Green_

_Hair Color: Pink_

_Known Facts: Left on the Third Hokage's doorstep. Found early in the morning. No known family inside of the Fire Country. One note left along with a small sum of money. Adopted by Haruno Isamu and Haruno Umeko, whose daughter, Sango H., died two months ago. Sakura has the demon Shuensha in her. The demon has been illegally sealed into her by an unknown member of ANBU root, thought to be the elder Danzou, but there is no proof. This event occurred the morning after she was found by Itachi Uchiha, a new but skilled chunnin. The two Harunos adopted her a week later, aware of this. No one besides the Hokage, the Harunos, Danzou, the elders, and a few ANBU and ANBU root members know of this. Her 'brother' is unknown, though assumed to be a good ninja._

Sakura swallowed-hard. A demon? In her? Was it one of the tailed beasts? It couldn't be!

"Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked weakly.

"Yes, Sakura? Are you okay? I know this is a lot for you to take in. I'll have Danzou and the elders in here for questioning."

"Is my…demon…a tailed…?"

"No, Sakura. It's not one of the nine. I'll give you a scroll on Shuensha."

Sakura nodded. "Do you think…my brother…is dead? Is that why he never came back?"

Tsunade sighed and shrugged. "Maybe he is, maybe he's not. It's possible that…he left you here with no intention to return."

Sakura didn't know why those words hurt so much. It wasn't like she had ever met him, or even known about him. Her hurt must have shown, for Tsunade added,

"Or maybe he didn't. Maybe he's just trying to get stabled. He may have died. Maybe he even came back and tried to find you, but couldn't."

"…Maybe."

"Take a few days off, Sakura. Go home and relax. I'm sure the Harunos, your parents, loved you all the same," Tsunade said.

Sakura nodded bleakly and left.

Tsunade watched her apprentice leave and heaved a massive sigh when she had left.

_Where's my sake?_

Sakura walked home in a trance.

_...Inner?_

No response.

_Inner?_

Nothing.

_Inner, I know you're there._

A mental sigh.

**Yes?**

…_You're Shuensha, aren't you?_

…**Yes.**

_Why didn't you tell me?_

**I didn't want you to be afraid of yourself. I wanted you to grow up normally, or at least reasonably. Naruto had a horrible childhood because the adults knew about the Kyuubi. If they had known that you had a demon as well, do you think they would have treated you normally?**

…_No. I can see why you didn't tell me, but…what are you?_

**I am a demon from the stars. I have a lot of chakra, not as much as the Kyuubi, but I pride myself in knowing that I am not a giant mindless fox. **

_So, what are you exactly?_

**I am not human, nor am I any animal you would be familiar with. I am a…shadow, I suppose. I was cast down from the stars centuries ago. I landed on earth and took the form of a cat. An order of male monks kept me until a high-level ninja attacked them, saying they had a scroll. They would've killed them all, but I saved them. In return, they sealed me into a crystal ball and kept me in a dark room. I couldn't escape. That was my thank-you for saving their lives. Eventually, the order died out and I was forgotten. Their temple had been in the Fire Country. Ninjas passing through about twenty years ago found me and brought me back. I was sealed into you. I've been here ever since.**

…_So, you've been in me my whole life and you haven't thought it would be nice to just warn me?_

**My apologies. It was nicer for everyone to just think you were normal.**

_Is that why Ino was so freaked out when she tried to take over me mind in the Chunnin Exams?_

**Yes. I did that. I don't like you to be controlled, and I knew winning was important to you, so I did what I could.**

_Why didn't you lend me your power?_

**Everyone would know that you weren't normal! People would be afraid of you! I couldn't let that happen. Ino was wary of you for a while after, but she brushed it off as a freak accident.**

_I guess. So, thanks. For protecting me and all._

**It was no problem.**

_Do you know who my brother is, by any chance?_

**I'm sorry. I don't.**

_Oh. Okay._

Sakura was at her apartment by now. She was staring at the picture of Team 7. Sasuke still wasn't back. Naruto and Kakashi had recently left on a mission to retrieve him…again. Sakura hadn't gone this time because she thought it was pointless, really. She was over him. She just couldn't wait until Naruto was back. She missed him.

Sakura sighed and flopped on her bed. Should she tell him about this new development? She sighed and rolled over. Life was overrated. A knock on her door came. Sakura got up and opened it to see Hinata.

"Hi, Hinata-chan. What are you doing here?"

"Naruto-kun just got back from his mission. It was a success, Sakura. The Hokage wants you down at the hospital immediately."

Sakura's eyes widened and she dashed off. She reached the hospital in record time and began putting her hair up.

"Sakura-sama! Shizune-sama is working on Kakashi Hatake. He's in critical condition. She should be able to stabilize him. Tsunade-sama is working on Sasuke Uchiha. She wants you to work on Naruto Uzumaki. He's in critical condition and is severely burned. He's in surgery room 203."

"Thank you, Kaori," Sakura said to the nurse. Sakura barged into the room where several nurses were running around, some already using basic healing techniques to heal Naruto. Sakura hurried over to her brotherly friend and assessed the damage. Severe burning, internal bleeding, a few broken bones, and stab wounds. Sakura began to heal.

A few hours and a shit-load of chakra later, Naruto was in stable condition and he was doing well. Sakura was exhausted and collapsed into her office. She was so tired and a nap sounded so good it wasn't even funny.

She fell asleep on her couch.

When Sakura woke up, light was streaming in through her office window. Morning? Already?

**I see you're awake.**

_Yeah. Did all that happen? Naruto bringing back Sasuke and all. Are you really Shuensha?_

**Yes. You fell asleep in your office. It's already nine fifty. Almost ten. **

_Oh. Okay. Thanks._

Sakura stretched and groaned. Her back let out an audible 'pop' as it cracked. She smiled and stood up. She was still in her red shirt that emphasized her form and had thick straps with a small white circle on the back, her black skirt that reached a little below mid-thigh, and new black heels with open toes. Her toenails were painted red like Tsunade's. The heels weren't that tall-only about one and a half inches. Her feet were sore from being in them all night, so she channeled some healing chakra down to the muscles to ease the stiffness. Then she went out into the hospital.

Sakura headed down to Naruto's room. She knew he wouldn't be up, but she still felt complied to visit the loudmouth.

When she arrived, she knew someone already had been there. Orange and purple arum lilies were in a vase. Sakura knew they were from Hinata. She really did care about him.

She checked his pulse and his injuries. They were all doing nicely. She healed him a little more, but there wasn't much left to heal. The Kyuubi was helping a lot. He should be up within two days.

Sakura left her 'brother' and went to check on Kakashi. He was doing okay. He still had his mask on. He hadn't been injured as badly as Naruto. She gave him a quick healing session before departing, making a promise to herself to come back and give him flowers. With a deep breath, she made her way over to _his_ room.

There he was. His black hair was still spiky at the back, but now he had bangs that fell into his face. His nose had white medical tape over it. Naruto had probably broken it. She didn't linger on his handsome face too long. He was ridiculously good-looking, but he was also ridiculously cold-hearted. And a traitor to Konoha. She gave him only a check-up (although she did heal his nose a bit more) before leaving. He wouldn't be up for a while. About four days was her guess. Kakashi would probably be three or four.

Sakura was still tired, and finding out that you had been abandoned by your family, your parents were actually your foster parents, you had a brother somewhere, and you had a demon in you was a pretty shocking conversation.

Sakura made her way home to eat breakfast. She had never actually had the chance to. She flung her door opened, ate a bowl of cereal, took a shower, and then took a nap.

Pein stared out the window. He was one of the most powerful ninja of all time. The leader of Akatsuki, a feared organization consisting of the most powerful ninja ever. Well, with the exception of Tobi, but he could be strong when he wanted. **(In my story, Tobi isn't Madara because Madara scares me and I like Tobi better. He isn't Obito either. Tobi is just Tobi. And Sasori is still alive and well!)**

Right now, though, his mind was elsewhere. Not on his lover, Konan, or his other bodies, or his pain, or his members. His mind was on his little sister, Sakura. He had kept an eye on her as well as he could, and she had been weak at first, to his disappointment, but now she was one of the strongest shinobi to ever walk the planet. Her medical skills were better than Tsunade's, and she had a wide range of jutsu. She had connections throughout the world and she was also best friends with the Kyuubi boy.

Pein was proud to call Sakura 'Haruno' his sister. He should probably go get her, like he had promised. But did she even know? Did she even care? Would she believe him?

Pein sighed. So many scenarios and different outcomes. He loved Sakura, he knew that much. Just as a sister, though. Not as a lover. Konan was his love in those terms. He remembered how after the Konoha ninjas had killed his parents; he had managed to get Sakura out of the house with him. He had met his friends, Konan and Yahiko. He had been trained by Jiraiya for a while and after, he had put Sakura in the village of Konoha. It was the safest place for her to be at the time.

Pein had put Sakura before his hatred for Konoha. That alone proved his love for her. He regretted the fact that he had never been much of an older brother to her. The Kyuubi boy took that role. Being a big brother had meant the world to him at one time, when he was younger. That was why his mother and father had had a baby. For him. They had been a happy family before that happened. Little Sakura had only been a month. He had named her, too. She had their mother's eyes, but he had no clue where her hair came from.

Now he was faced with a decision. He had already put going and getting her off for too long. Should he leave her there, with her home and friends, and try to forget about his precious little sister? Or should he go get her whether she wanted to go or not? Either way, one of them would be hurt.

"Pein?"

Pein was brought from his thoughts when Konan called his name.

"Yes?"

"What are you thinking about?"

Pein could trust Konan with anything. He had just never told her about Sakura. It had never mattered in their relationship or in their organization.

"My sister," he answered honestly after a pause.

"Sister?" Konan asked.

"Hai."

"Oh. Is she…dead?"

"No. She is alive. She goes by the name Sakura Haruno."

Konan's beautiful purple-blue eyes widened at the name. "That medical ninja in Konoha?"

"Hai."

Konan put her small hand on his shoulder. "Would you mind telling me?" The words were kind, and she was being genuinely curious, not mad or sarcastic.

Pein hesitated before telling her all about Sakura, and how he managed to keep her a secret from Yahiko and her during their training with Jiraiya.

After, Konan sighed. "I think you should go get her. You promised Konoha you would, and you deserve to have her back if you love her so much."

Pein considered this. "I want her to be happy, and it sounds like she is. But I also want my little sister to be here with me. Plus, we could use her skills."

"We could. It's up to you, but I think you should bring her back. Or at least give her the option."

Pein nodded. Konan left. He loved his blue-haired girlfriend. She was selfless, considerate, and always there to lean on. She didn't mind that he loved another girl besides her. In a different way, of course, but some girls would freak out about it. He decided to give it more thought.

**So there you have it! Is it good so far? Please review and tell me! (Okay, sorry if anyone else had this same plot thing with Sakura being Pein's sister. I didn't mean to take it and it just seemed like a good idea that my ****really**** dumb mind came up with.) Oh, and just to let everyone know, Shuensha is a form of the word star in Japanese. And the note that Sakura read was the note that Nagato/Pein left her with in Konoha.**

**One more thing. Konan may be a bit OOC, but that's kind of how I view her. Understanding, caring, and watchful, but not smothering. Of course, in action this could all be different. **


	2. Plans

**Hello all! I'm back! And guess what? I still own nothing! Yay me!...Wait, that can't be right.**

**Oh, and thanks for the reviews. I love them, and I'm so happy you guys like my story. Thank you!!!**

Sakura woke up. It was now a week after Naruto had returned with Sasuke. Kakashi was being released from the hospital today, and Naruto had been out (although not officially) for a few days. He and Hinata were now dating. Turns out that she had confessed in his hospital room the evening after Shizune had dragged him out of Ichiraku earlier that morning. Hinata had brought him three bowls of ramen and she had blushingly told him she loved him. Naruto had been so shocked he had dropped his ramen.

Sakura was immensely happy for them, but she had yet to tell him about Shuensha and her parents. She had consulted the star demon on the matter, and she had agreed to tell Naruto.

Sasuke had woken up, and he hadn't been the happiest camper in the room. He attempted to strangle the nurse, Kaori, after she had told him he was in the Konoha hospital. His teammates had been tended to by a few medic-nin. They were all alive and being hospitalized. Juugo, the huge one who also seemed to kind to be a ninja, was having his seal studied by Tsunade and Sakura.

Sakura was now heading to Ichiraku to find Naruto. She knew Hinata would probably be with him, but she also knew that she had to tell him before she turned and ran. She was very nervous.

Sure enough, the blonde loudmouth was sitting there with Hinata, slurping his ramen.

"Hi, Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan," Sakura greeted.

"Hello, Sakura-chan," Hinata said.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto's greeting was louder.

"Um, Naruto-kun? May I speak with you when you and Hinata are finished?"

"Sure! I need to walk her home, though."

"That's fine. Can you meet me at the training grounds?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

Sakura left the ramen shop. She went home, grabbed the scroll containing the information on her and her brother's note, and then went to the training grounds to wait for Naruto.

When the blonde boy got there, it was turning dark.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I can't tell you. I don't know how, and I don't have the courage." Naruto's face became worried and confused.

"But here."

Sakura handed the scroll and note over to Naruto. He read the note first, as she had done. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened.

"Read the scroll," Sakura whispered. She was becoming increasingly worried. Would he hate her? No, he wouldn't. He had the Kyuubi. But Sakura was still nervous.

She watched as Naruto's eyes read the scroll, widened, and his jaw dropped. Sakura looked down to the right, her hair hiding her face from view.

The pink-haired medic could feel Naruto's eyes on her. She felt tears form in the corners of her emerald eyes.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Naruto-kun. I-I didn't w-want t-to keep it a s-secret from you. I-I understand if you d-don't l-like me anymore."

She felt herself be enveloped by a pair of arms.

"How could I not like you, Sakura-chan? You're my sister."

Sakura turned to Naruto and hugged him back, burying her face in his chest. Her unshed tears seeped into his signature orange jacket, but none fell. They stood there like that for a bit, until Sakura withdrew. She loved Naruto so much. Whoever her brother was couldn't come close to how comforting Naruto was. He was always there for her. Always accepting.

Naruto smiled at her. His killer smile. He really was a great guy. Hinata was lucky to have him.

"Thanks, Naruto-kun."

"No problem, Sakura-chan. I'm here for you."

Sakura smiled back at him. Everything seemed good.

Pein sat in his office, reading through an old scroll that he had found lying around. He needed to get his mind off of Sakura. His brain was starting to hurt.

The scroll was blabbing on and on about something stupid. An old order of monks. Basically, old men in 'robes'. Dresses if he ever saw one. Well, it was going on and on about the order, the life, the priests and monks, the travelers, the ninja, the wars, and…a cat. Pein was about to put the stupid scroll down when a paragraph caught his attention.

'…_and so, the ninja attacked! We had a scroll, an ancient scroll, full of forbidden jutsu. This was true. We must now rid ourselves of it before it comes to more attention. This was a surprise when the cat, Suzu, gave a display of power. The cat killed all the ninja. That is when we discovered that the cat must be a demon of some sort. One of the older monks thinks it to be Shuensha, a star demon. We have sealed it away to keep ourselves safe. It has been sealed into a crystal ball and locked away deep in the heart of our order. This is to remain a secret, yet I write about it. How can I let such important history go to waste? The order…'_

Pein stared at the paragraph. Another demon? This 'Shuensha' wasn't one of the nine. He already knew where most of them were.

It was time to do some research on 'Shuensha'.

Sakura was happy to have Naruto know. He never spoke about it and never told anyone. But he was always there.

Sakura was currently eating lunch with Ino. The blonde kept jabbering on about something. Sakura had long since stopped listening. Now she said an agreeing 'yeah' or 'uh-huh' or 'really' every time the pretty ninja paused for her opinion. The only thing she had really paid attention to was the Summer Bash Ino was planning and had wanted her help with it.

"-and then Ten-Ten got back from Suna, and apparently Gaara and his student Matsuri may have a more _meaningful_ relationship, if you know what I mean, but Matsuri denies it and Gaara just stares at you like you grew another head, so who knows. Kankuro's latest girlfriend apparently was sent out on a mission, so you know Kankuro. He found some other girl at a bar and-"

_Will she never stop?_ Sakura inwardly moaned.

**You can always say you have to meet someone somewhere.**

_That's risky. Ino knows everything about everyone._

**Well, let's review. Ten-Ten is training with Lee and Neji, Naruto and Hinata are probably at Ichiraku, Kiba's on a mission with Shino, Shikamaru and Chouji are probably at a barbeque restaurant, Tsunade is probably drinking sake and avoiding paperwork, Shizune is probably nagging Tsunade to actually do the paperwork and stop drinking sake, and who knows where Kakashi is.**

_Ugh! I like Ino, don't get me wrong, but she talks more than Naruto!_

**Yeah. Oh, she paused. Say 'I know.'**

Sakura said what Shuensha told her to and Ino seemed content before continuing on her rant.

_Do have any idea of how to get out of here?_

**Sorry, no. Say you have paperwork or you have to work at the hospital.**

_I'll go with the paperwork excuse._

"-and Temari was like 'BAKA!' and sent Hisao through the wall. No one's been brave enough to ask her out since, but it sounds like he totally deserved it. You know how Temari is so protective of Gaara, and normally a person would have enough common sense to know not to insult him. Now if Kankuro is the one being insulted, she doesn't really care. Of course, he is a player and probably even more annoying then Naruto-if that's possible. Hinata must have so much patience-"

**Oh it's possible! **Shuensha said.

"-and Kiba actually liked her more than a friend for a while, you know, but Hinata-"

"Um, Ino?"

"-I mean, he's nice and all, but he smells bad. And he's a bit-"

"Ino?"

"-that can be a good thing, though! I mean, he _is_ hot. Have you-"

"Ino!"

"Huh?" Ino asked.

"I'm sorry to end our lunch, but I have paperwork to attend to at the hospital. Tsunade's probably piled it up sky high."

Ino nodded. "Probably. We'll have to have a longer lunch next time. Ja!"

**Longer?! That was over an hour ****after**** we finished the food!**

_I know._

"Yes. Ja!"

Sakura left some money to help cover the bill and then, without a choice, left for the hospital. There probably was a good amount of paperwork for her to do, anyway.

Sakura was greeted by many people at the hospital. She was, after all, a well known ninja. She stepped into her office and was surprised to see Kaori there.

"Hello, Kaori. What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, just tidying up, Sakura-sama. I arranged your paperwork. There was also a scroll on your desk that is from Tsunade-sama."

"Arigato, Kaori."

The young brunette nodded, gave a slight bow, and left.

Sakura settled down into her desk. She picked up the scroll. It was one about Shuensha.

She read the note attached.

_Sakura-chan,_

_I wasn't able to find much, even after consulting those miserable old geezers. Sorry. I put what I did find on this scroll. Maybe Shuensha herself could give you more information. And there's detail about how she was sealed into you, just in case you were curious._

_Tsunade_

Sakura smiled and began reading the scroll. It wasn't very long and just stated a few old myths about the star demon, the fact that a cat was supposed to represent her, and how it was found by ANBU, brought back, and sealed. One myth that Tsunade had bothered to copy down caught her attention.

'_-Shuensha was cast down from the stars. How is unknown. Perhaps she banished herself. Maybe other demons cast her down, away from their heavens, for a bad deed. Shuensha may spend only a year here, although that is unlikely, or she could be here for millennia. Either way, Shuensha has not been spotted since her appearance to the Hyuuga clan during the Great Ninja War. It is rumored that she was sealed into a child of their clan. No proof for this rumor has ever been found. Shuensha is associated with a cat for that was how she appeared to the Hyuuga clan. After a great display of power against a rival clan, the star demon vanished. No one knows where to or why.'_

Another story made her read closer. This was most likely taken from the Hyuuga clan itself.

'_-a cat appeared. It seemed lonely and my child fed it and cared for it. Then, one night, a surprise attack killed several clan members. As the ninja approached my husband, sons, and my daughter, the cat leapt in front of us. Chakra unlike any other drove the enemy off quickly, killing many. My clan has been saved by a cat! I believe this cat to be a demon of some sort, but I shall never know. This cat was unable to be found after the battle, and my child was quite upset, but we are alive. All because of a kind deed. I truly believe that my child saved our clan. The Elders are trying to take the credit, but the true hero is the cat and my child. Where would-'_

Sakura skimmed through the three other short paragraphs and a few of Tsunade's notes and the Elders' words, along with Danzou's.

At around three, Sakura put her paperwork and her scroll on Shuensha away.

_Is all that true?_

**Most of it.**

_How long will you be here?_

**I'm not sure. Either I will die with you or I'll leave your body and wander the earth.**

_Why not return to the stars?_

…**I banished myself for five centuries. I made a bad decision that was almost fatal to my stars. They will be fine until I return to guard them.**

_Oh._

Sakura walked home. She has no clue whatsoever where Kakashi was, and she didn't want to interrupt Naruto's time with Hinata.

She flopped on her bed. It wasn't super late, but there wasn't much to do. Where was Sai? Oh yeah. On a mission with Yamato.

Sakura decided to go find Lee and practice taijutsu.

"Pein-sama," the young raven-haired woman said, bowing before him.

Pein remained silent, only nodding his head to acknowledge her presence.

"I have information on Shuensha for you."

"How did you get it?" Pein asked, taking the scroll that was in her outstretched hand.

"A spy named Kaori found the information."

"And she is positioned where?" Pein's voice was cold and demanding.

"Konoha, Pein-sama."

Pein nodded. "Dismissed."

The woman retreated, leaving him to himself.

Pein opened the scroll. His ringed eyes widened as he read.

_The demon Shuensha has been illegally sealed in the renowned medic, Haruno Sakura. She has recently been told of this fact and that she was adopted and her older brother who left her in Konoha is unknown. Shuensha has been sealed within Sakura her whole life. The person who sealed it is unknown._

The scroll said a few things about the star demon, but Pein was nearly speechless. His little _sister_, his last blood relative, had a demon sealed in her. He had been trying to protect her and now look. Pein gripped his desk so hard the wood cracked.

He sent up a chakra flare. Konan was there in less than ten seconds.

"I am going for Sakura. Expect me back in no less than two weeks."

Pein kissed his blue-haired lover on the lips before departing.

Konan watched Pein depart. Then she smiled. She was in charge of Akatsuki for at least a week. Time to put the members to _good_ use.

Sakura was currently training with Hinata. Naruto was with Sasuke in his secured hospital room and so this left the two girls to train. Sakura found Hinata's byakugan quite the challenge, but Sakura's medical ninjutsu wasn't easy to deal with either. Sakura was currently winning.

"You're good, Sakura-chan," Hinata said breathlessly after a close combat round with kunai. Hinata had leapt away before Sakura could land a punch.

"You too," Sakura agreed. Shuensha was thinking of ways to get around the Hyuuga heiress.

**We could always see how my power works.**

_That's unfair. We'd need to work on that alone._

**I am not like the Kyuubi. I can control my power, thank-you. I'm also not looking for a way out.**

_Good point, but still. Let's train on it a little before using it. _

**Okay, okay.**

Sakura dodged a jab to her ribs from Hinata before retaliating with a roundhouse kick, which the heiress ducked under and aimed for the back of her knee. She hit her target, but Sakura grabbed her arm and within two seconds held a kunai at her neck. She was standing on one leg, seeing as the circulation had been cut off to the other one.

"Okay, Sakura-chan. You win."

"Thanks. You did great, Hinata-chan. Next time hit and run," Sakura advised, healing the blood vessels.

"Okay."

After Sakura had treated all of their wounds, she offered to take Hinata to a neat tea shop that Sakura had taken a liking to. Hinata agreed, happy to eat something besides ramen.

"So, Hinata-chan, how are things with Naruto-kun?"

"Good. I've always wanted to date him. Ever since the Academy, but you know how shy I am."

"Yeah. You've gotten better, though. Anyway, Ino's holding a Summer Bash with ramen, miso soup, rice balls, fish, sushi, breads, desserts…well, you get it. Wanna help us plan it? It's gonna be kinda of formal, but not bad. The guys will probably be in nice capris or pants with a short-sleeved shirts and the girls in dresses. It should be fun."

"Sure, Sakura-chan."

Sakura and Hinata chatted idly about things. Temari and Kankuro were going to be in town for the party and Temari was going to be in a dress, whether she wanted to be in one or not.

"So, we'll meet tomorrow at Ino's apartment to discuss arrangements, right?" Sakura asked.

"Hai."

"Okay. See you later, Hinata-chan!"

"Bye Sakura-chan!"

Sakura headed back to the training grounds for some training with Shuensha.

Pein stared coldly at the Konoha ninja in front of him.

"Tell me everything you know about Sakura Haruno."

"Sakura…Haruno?"

"I don't like repeating myself."

"H-Hai! She's a m-medic-nin who's p-passed Tsunade-sama! A-And she's in ANBU and a best f-friend to Naruto Uzumaki."

"Her personality?"

"I-I don't know her p-personally, but she's said t-to be very n-nice and cheerful."

"Best friends?"

"Naruto U-Uzumaki, H-Hinata Hyuuga, Ino Y-Yamanaka, and many more."

"Name them if you wish to live."

"Shikamaru N-Nara! Kiba Inuzuka, a g-girl named Ten-Ten, T-Temari no S-Sabaku, Neji Hyuuga, a b-boy named Sai, Rock Lee, Sh-Shino Aburame, Chouji, a-and Gaara no Sabaku."

"Where does she live?"

"I-I don't know. I-I do know that I-Ino Yamanaka w-will be hosting a s-summer party and she w-will be there."

"…Do you have any more details on this?"

"N-no. I'm s-sorry. It will b-be held within the n-next week."

Pein nodded before killing the worthless jounin-new from the looks of it. So a party, huh? That would be easy to sneak into. Put a high-level henge or genjutsu over himself, saying that he was a friend of 'Ino's'. No, that would look suspicious. He should get Konan and pretend to be a couple that she knew. Pein bit his thumb hard enough to make it bleed, made a few hand signs, and soon there was a brown hawk in front of him. He hurriedly wrote a message to Konan before sending the bird to her. Konan always liked getting dressed up, but rarely had the chance. This would be a chance for her.

Pein turned to face in the direction of Konoha. He had to get his sister out of there. They had sealed a demon in her. What else might they have done?

_Sakura-chan…I'm coming for you._

Sakura was at Ino's place with Hinata. Ten-Ten wasn't able to be there because she was on a mission, but she should be back in time for the party.

Ino was listing off food they needed. Hinata was carefully making the invitations and Sakura was helping. She wasn't a bad artist at all, but Hinata was one of the best in Konoha. Sakura just drew a few doodles on the fronts so they looked well-crafted.

"-and sushi! With soy sauce! We should have spicy sushi, normal sushi, sweet sushi…all kinds of sushi! And we need rice balls. Do you think we could put them in different shapes? Like, suns, hearts, triangles, stars, and those kinds of things. Oh! And we need-"

**Why do you hang out with her?**

_She's my best friend from the Academy._

**And she drives us insane.**

_That may be, but she's a really good friend. _

Shuensha sighed.

Sakura doodled a cup of ramen on Naruto's invitation as Ino excitedly continued speaking.

"-almost everyone in Konoha, and some of my friends and connections from around the fire country and the other countries. Like the Sand Siblings. Gaara probably can't come, but I don't want to be rude. He _is_ hot, anyway. What do you guys think?"

"Sounds great, Ino-pig," Sakura said, drawing a spider in Shino's invitation. Hinata's delicate calligraphy lined the page neatly.

"Where will all this be held, Ino-chan?" Hinata asked.

"Good question." Sakura said.

"Hm…outdoors with an indoor area maybe, but not that big. Anyone think of anything? I thought about begging Shikamaru to lend us the forest, but that could be dangerous and it's not open."

"Um, the training grounds?" Sakura thought.

"That could work," Hinata said.

"Yeah! Good thinking, forehead!"

"So the training grounds. We'll need to set some things up, but it should be a good spot," the pinkette said.

"Yeah. Oh! We'll need flowers, lanterns, streamers, balloons, banners, chairs-"

Sakura went back to tuning Ino out as she made her long list of things needed.

It was the day before the party and Sakura was helping Ino, Hinata, Ten-Ten, and Temari set things up. It was depressing to think that she still didn't have a dress. Ten-Ten and Hinata had gone shopping, and it surprised Sakura when Temari said that she had brought a dress from Suna already, but Ino didn't have one, either.

Hinata's was a pretty royal blue dress with white-and-blue flowers in a neat diagonal line wrapping around it. It had spaghetti straps and fell to her knees.

Ten-Ten's dress went a bit past mid-thigh. It had short sleeves that barely draped off of her shoulders. The dress was light pink and had a white dragon wrapping around it before the head ended near the top. It drew some attention to her covered breasts, but it fit Ten-Ten's style.

Temari's dress was a gift from a tailor's family. She had apparently saved their son from ninja before and in return they had made her a pretty, thick-strapped dress that fell to about her knees. There were three purple dots placed on it-one on the bottom right corner, one on her left hip, and one on the top right corner.

Sakura hadn't really bothered looking for a dress, but she was getting desperate. She was going to go with Ino in a bit to try and find one.

**I told you that you should've gone sooner. **Shuensha told Sakura as she tied a balloon down.

_Hai, hai. I know. The party just came up so soon and I had that mission._

Sakura had been sent on a short, two-day mission and had just gotten back yesterday. She had had to assassinate a business owner who made weapons because he was proven to be a spy for Akatsuki. She had easily slit the man's throat. He had been skilled with weapons, but knew next to nothing about the arts of jutsu. Ten-Ten had more talent with weapons than he had, so she had killed him quickly, left his body in a weapons closet, and departed.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, why don't you two leave early and go find dresses? The party is tomorrow, and it's already three in the afternoon," Ten-Ten said, making a clean cut through a too-long ribbon that was hanging off of a tree.

"Sure," Ino said, finishing her last rice star. She had a talent for cutting them into shapes.

"Okay," Sakura agreed.

The two made their way into town. Ino rushed all about, going into stores and trying on dresses. If being a ninja hadn't given her arm muscles, Sakura was sure that carrying all those clothes around would.

"What do you think, Sakura?"

Sakura turned-for the thousandth time-to face Ino. She wore a skimpy bright green dress which had slinky straps and a flaring skirt that barely touched mid-thigh.

"Too revealing."

Ino pouted. "I liked this dress, though! Well, I guess it is a little showy, but it is a party."

"Do you _want_ a reputation of a slut?"

"Well, no, but the dress is so cute!"

"I'm sure we can find something better, Ino. What about…this one?"

Sakura randomly selected one from the enormous pile of clothes that Ino had stacked up.

The dress was a pale pink with a cute trim, but the design of hibiscus flowers all over it was a tad bit too overwhelming.

Ino wrinkled her nose. "Pick another one. It looked cuter on the rack."

Sakura shook her head before digging through the clothes. Finally, she emerged with a dress.

It was a light yellow and had no straps, but it didn't look like it was going to fall down. The top wasn't high, but also it didn't dip down on the breasts. It looked like it would reach about her knees, maybe a bit lower, and the skirt part of it was very flow-y and flexible. It had barely visible curving white lines up to the waist and Sakura liked it immediately.

Ino's blue eyes widened a bit as she studied the dress.

"Give it here, forehead!"

Sakura smiled at Ino's new enthusiasm and handed the dress to her.

The blonde disappeared into the fitting room, only to emerge seconds later.

Ino looked stunning. The dress looked great on her, emphasizing her body in a respectful yet sexy way.

"Ino, that dress was made for you."

"You think so?"

Ino looked so beautiful at that moment that Sakura was threatened to be overcome with jealousy, or as it was also known, 'the little green monster'.

"Ino, if you don't take that dress, I will buy it and make you wear it."

Ino smiled. "Thanks, forehead."

"Any time, pig."

Ino left the mounds of clothing to the poor worker and went to buy the dress. When that task was done, the duo set off to find Sakura the perfect dress. Inwardly, Sakura doubted that there'd be a dress that could look as good on her as Ino's dress did on Ino.

It was getting late, and though Sakura had tried on dress after dress, none of them seemed right.

"Ino, why don't we just go back to that one other store and get the dress there? Nothing else is popping up," Sakura said. They had found a reasonable dress at some store. The dress there was very basic-black and green-with short sleeves and a mid-thigh length, and it looked good on her, but she wouldn't stand out. Ino was determined to find Sakura the perfect dress, saying that black wasn't a summery color, and continued their search. The stores were closing and their chances were dimming.

"No! Come on, just this one last store. Then we'll go back and get it. Come on, Sakura. Just this last one. Please, please, please, please, please?"

Sakura sighed. "Okay."

"Yay!" Ino cheered, grabbing Sakura's hand and dragging her in.

Sakura tried on a faded purple dress, a red dress, a bright green dress, and a blue and pink dress, but none of them worked like she wanted it to. She was about to buy the purple dress, but then Ino called her name.

"Forehead?"

Sakura turned.

Ino was holding up a dress. It was pink with spaghetti straps, lime green flowers in a neat line crossing over the stomach area, and below that the skirt was silky and flowing, probably going to half-way in between mid-thigh and her knee. It was a very cute dress.

Sakura touched it reverently before taking it into her arms as if it was a baby.

"What are you waiting for, forehead? Try it on!" Ino demanded.

Sakura smiled before heading into the dressing rooms.

The dress looked gorgeous on her. She looked innocent and pretty, but not sexy. Okay, not pretty, but kind of…beautiful. It was strange for Sakura to think of herself like that. She had always thought she was pretty, but not beautiful, even though everyone told her she was.

"Wow, forehead. That's your dress," Ino said.

"…Yeah…"

The two girls bought the dress, took their shopping bags (Ino had bought more than just that dress) and headed home for the night.

Pein stared at Konoha. He hated it with a passion, and it was an effort to not attack it, but he reminded himself that Sakura was there, and before he could launch his assault on the powerful village, he had to get his sister back.

Konan was there with him, and she was currently sleeping. Her beautiful purple-blue eyes hidden from the world. Pein loved Konan. Many people believed him to be emotionless and hate the world like the Uchiha under his command, but that was not the case. Itachi actually didn't hate the world. He wasn't power-hungry like so many believed, either. Itachi just didn't like bonds. Pein guessed that Itachi wasn't solely responsible for the Uchiha massacre, and he _had_ left Sasuke alive, so Pein thought that he still, on some level, cared about the his younger brother, although Itachi would never admit to it. Itachi hated weaknesses of any kind, and although Sasuke may fall into that particular category for the elder Uchiha, no one would ever guess it. Of course, Itachi never really bonded with anyone anymore. He didn't want people like Deidara or Kisame to die, but he wasn't close to them.

Konan stirred in her sleep, catching Pein's attention. Konan was a very powerful ninja, and Pein loved that about her. She was so kind and…perfect. In his view, anyway. He didn't mind the whole Akatsuki knowing that they had a close relationship. He didn't really mind if everyone in the world knew, but he liked that they didn't. He wasn't ashamed of his love for the blue-haired Akatsuki, but he didn't want any harm or threat coming near her.

Pein watched her for a moment before turning back to Konoha, absent-mindedly running his rough hand through her silky hair. It was short, reaching just a bit below her shoulders, but he didn't mind. Konan had always kept it short, and he wanted her to be comfortable with what she wanted.

Pein stared at Konoha. Tomorrow, he would finally get his sister back.

**That was a long chapter! For me, at least. It was 14 pages. I'll try to make the next one longer. Next chapter will be the party, and Sakura will end up with the Akatsuki. As much as I want chapter 3 to be long, it probably won't be. Well, thanks for reading and please review! They encourage me to write and make me feel so good about my story. So review!**


	3. The Party

**Hi again! Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews I received! They really make me want to write and encourage me. So hopefully this update wasn't too late, and the chapter wasn't too short. I just finished watching a new MADE on MTV about this nerdy guy who is obsessed with the 50's. Ah, good times, good times…wait, I wasn't even around then.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

Sakura Haruno woke up, excited. Ino's summer bash started at noon and was probably going to go late, seeing as she bought vodka, sake, and wine.

Almost all of the Konoha ninjas were going to be there at some point. The only ones that weren't there were people who were on missions or had watch duty. Even the younger ninjas who had parents who were also ninja were there, although they'd leave earlier, before the adults opened the alcohol.

Sakura ate an apple for breakfast and then went to get ready. She showered, using strawberry-scented hair products and vanilla body wash. The two clashed well.

After, the pinkette brushed out her hair, still debating on what to do with it. She tied it in a ponytail, but it didn't click for her. She tried it in pigtails, a braid, buns, and just plain down, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, she decided on leaving the bottom layer down and straight while the top was pulled back into a flat ponytail, secured by a green and white clip. She applied a layer of pink lip gloss and mascara before putting the dress on. She dug through her closet, frantically looking for a pair of shoes.

She finally settled on a pair of white, one-inch sandal heels with a bow on the strap across her foot. She then painted her toenails a pretty lime green color. Ino had done her nails a glossy, light pink yesterday and Hinata had painted a small white flower on each thumbnail.

It was now eleven forty-five, so Sakura decided to go be there a bit early to help Ino host.

When she arrived, Hinata was already there. She looked pretty. Her hair was swept to the side in a side ponytail and was held in place by a blue flower clip that matched the dress. She wore white heels that looked like they were Ino's.

"Hi, Ino-chan! Hi, Hinata-chan!"

"Hi, Sakura-chan."

"Hey forehead!"

Sakura smiled.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Not really. Just help set up to food," Ino told her.

Sakura nodded and began to help, and smiled at the giant ramen pot. Ichiraku had given them a special discount, and Naruto would undoubtedly fall in love. She giggled at the thought.

Temari and Ten-Ten arrived soon, along with Neji, Lee, and Kankuro.

"Wow, this place looks sweet," Kankuro said.

"Thanks," all the girls chorused at the same time before laughing.

Temari's normally frizzy blonde hair was slightly tamed and in two low pigtails that hung around over her shoulders. She looked pretty and her dress fit her nicely.

Ten-Ten's dark brown hair was in a bun on the back of her head with two white chopsticks with pink stripes towards the tops in it in an 'X' formation.

Kankuro's face paint was off and his brown hair was messy. He wore a short-sleeved white shirt and nice black shorts that fell just a bit past his knees. Classic. Of course, he knew nothing about style and Temari wasn't exactly perfect in that subject.

Sakura smiled at her friends. Soon, almost all of the Konoha nin were there. Sakura wasn't quite as social as the blonde-haired Ino, but she wasn't just standing around, either. She chatted with a few ninja from ANBU and a few jounin. The nurse, Kaori, was there, too. Sakura favored Kaori. She was a quiet girl and Sakura sensed that she held a few secrets. Kaori also seemed a little nervous most of the time and didn't like to be the center of attention. Sakura couldn't really blame her.

"So, how is Sasuke-san doing, Kaori-chan?" Sakura asked.

"Fine, he doesn't like being cooped up, but it's not really a choice," the young brunette said. Her hair fell to her shoulder blades in a braid. A few strands framed her face. She had large, hazel eyes and her skin was slightly tan. The dress she wore fell somewhere between mid-thigh and her knee and was a foresty green. She looked nice.

"That is true, Kaori-chan."

The two girls chatted idly about things until Naruto popped up between them and dragged Sakura off to new people. She saw Kaori watch Naruto warily, but ignored it. She hated it when people looked at him differently because of the fox.

Pein stood at Konoha's gates, Konan by his side. She wore a pretty halter-neck dress that went to about mid-thigh, perhaps a little lower. It had a belt-ish strap thing across the middle and a fake flower on her left side. Her dyed black hair was in a ponytail which was held up by an 'alligator clip' thing and her hair fell in a carelessly beautiful manner over it.

Pein was dressed in a grey-blue short-sleeved shirt and dark pants. He had dyed his hair blonde and had hair falling into his eyes to disguise them. He hoped Jiraiya wouldn't be there, or they'd have to avoid him.

The couple approached the gates. There were two unhappy-looking guards and one bored ninja behind the traffic box. The guards stopped them before they got in.

"Halt. State your name and purpose," they said.

"We're from the Waterfall Country. We're here for Ino Yamanaka's party. She had a mission in the in our home town once and we met. She invited us, saying it would be huge," Konan said convincingly. All of her piercings besides one earring in each ear were out.

"Names?"

"I'm Harumi Ume and this is my soon-to-be husband, Dai." Konan didn't miss a beat.

"Are you ninja?"

"No." The two had their chakra concealed.

"How long will you be staying?"

"Not too long. Maybe one or two days."

"Okay. Go on through."

"Thank you."

Pein followed Konan through the gates. He was tempted to whip out a few explosive tags and place them on the Hokage mountain, but refrained from doing so.

"Now we just have to find the party," Konan said. They spotted a brown-haired person with a big white dog and a man with a jacket that hid most of his face and hair. Pein thought he glimpsed black glasses on his face.

"Come on, Shino! We're gonna be late for Ino's party!"

"If I recall correctly, it would be your fault for our lateness. You couldn't find your kunai pouch," the man in the jacket, Shino, said.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, you slowpoke!"

Konan and Pein followed the two ninja to through Konoha. Pein realized that Shino, who seemed to be the more serious one out of the two, probably noticed that they were being followed.

Almost as soon as his thought crossed his mind, he felt something crawling up his arm. He glanced down to see two bugs there. So Shino was a bug user. Konan tensed beside him and he knew that she felt it, too.

"Um, excuse me!" Konan called.

They halted and turned around.

"Um, look, we're really sorry we've been following you, as you've surely noticed, being ninja and all, but we're not familiar with Konoha and we're friends of Ino's. We heard you talking about the party and we don't know how to get there, so we thought we'd follow you. Sorry."

"Oh, that's fine! Sorry about the bugs and all. I'm Kiba," the man with the dog said, sticking his hand out.

"Harumi," Konan said, smiling and shaking his hand. "This is my fiancé, Dai."

Shino nodded and Kiba grinned.

"Nice to meet you. Are you ninja?"

"Not really. I mean, we know about two jutsus each, but we don't have good chakra levels. But at least we know something about it."

"Yeah, that could be useful," Kiba agreed.

"Do you two know Sakura Haruno?" Pein asked, suddenly remembering the jounin he had killed a week or so ago. He had mentioned the names Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame.

Pein knew that the Inuzukas were known for their canine familiars and the Aburames were known for their bug jutsus. This Kiba had a dog with him, and Shino looked like he used bugs. So maybe these two were friends with his little sister.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Just curious. I've heard rumors about her and I want to meet her."

"Ah. She's nice. Everyone in Konoha loves her. I'll introduce you two, if you want," Kiba offered. His face had brightened upon her name.

The rest of the way, the four chatted. Shino didn't really say much. Kiba didn't have a problem talking about Sakura when Pein asked. Soon, they arrived at the party. It was going strong so far.

"Let's go find Sakura. She's probably with Naruto," Kiba said. He weaved through the crowd occasionally stopping to say hi to someone or return a greeting.

"Kiba-kun! You're back!"

Pein turned to see a girl with long dark blue hair in a blue dress with flowers on it greet Kiba. The two hugged briefly before pulling apart.

"I didn't think you'd make it! You weren't supposed to be back from the mission until late tonight."

"I finished fast to be here. Oh, I'd like you to meet Harumi and Dai. They're engaged. Cool, huh? Oh, and they're form the Waterfall Country."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hinata."

Konan smiled as she shook hands with her.

"Harumi, as Kiba-san mentioned. You wouldn't happen to be a Hyuuga, would you? Ino mentioned a Hyuuga while she was with us."

Konan was taking a random guess. She assumed that since Hinata knew Ino because she was at the party, which wasn't hard to gather, and her eyes were a giveaway. But better to act interested than be rude.

"Oh! Yes, I am. Ino and I are close friends. Only she and Sakura are closer."

"Sakura?" Pein inquired, instantly alert.

"Yes. Sakura Haruno. Have you heard of her?"

"Yes. You're friends?"

"Hai. Sakura-chan is one of my closest friends."

Kiba chose this moment to become involved again. "Yeah, I was gonna find Sakura and introduce them. Do you know where she is?"

"Um, no. Sorry. Naruto-kun went to go find the food table. Maybe he'll know where she is."

"HINATA-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU?" A loud voice shouted over the noise.

"Looks like he's looking for you," Kiba observed.

Hinata rolled her eyes. "Naruto-kun! I'm over here!"

The blonde's head popped up above the crowd. He grinned at her and made a bee line for her.

"Hey, Hinata-chan! I thought I lost you!" He greeted.

Pein observed the Kyuubi boy. He seemed nice enough. Ready to make friends with anyone, and he didn't seem afraid to stand out in a crowd.

"No. How was the food table?"

"Awesome! There's this huge bowl of miso ramen! I'm gonna go grab some! Want to join?"

"Maybe later. Do you know where Sakura is? These people want to meet her," Hinata said, signaling to Pein and Konan.

"Oh! Who are you guys? I'm Naruto Uzumaki. You've probably heard of me," Naruto said, flexing his arm muscles.

"No," Konan said.

Naruto's face fell and his arm dropped.

"Just kidding. I'm Harumi and this is my fiancé, Dai. Anyway, do you know where Sakura is?" Konan asked.

Naruto rebounded instantly.

"Yeah! She was talking with the nurse, Kaori, last time I saw her. I'll go find her. Be right back!"

Before Pein knew it, the blonde was gone.

"He seems nice," Konan said.

"He is. Probably the center of Konoha, too. Along with Sakura-chan, that is. I don't know what we'd do without them," Hinata agreed fondly.

"Tch. Naruto can be a pain."

"Kiba-kun!"

"But he's worth it!" he added hastily.

"I'm back!" a loud, familiar voice announced.

"Honestly, Naruto. You're going to pull my arm off one day," a female voice said from behind the loud blonde.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan!"

Naruto moved aside to reveal a petite pink-haired girl. Pein studied her.

She was very beautiful, he decided. She had a happy vibe coming from her, despite being one of the best shinobi in the world. She seemed very pure and clean, too. Most men wouldn't hesitate to date her. He wasn't interested in her like that, though. She wore a pink dress with flowers on it that fit her well and she looked stunning. Pein decided that her most attention-drawing feature was her hair, but her eyes would be the most beautiful. They were light green, yet deep at the same time. He couldn't tell whose eyes were prettier: hers or Konan's.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura. I'm Harumi and this is my fiancé, Dai," Konan said. Sakura smiled and shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too. I'm Sakura Haruno, but it sounds like you already know me. Where are you from? I haven't seen you around before."

"Waterfall Country. We hear you're an excellent medic."

"I suppose. But I owe it all to Tsunade-sama. You should meet her."

Pein didn't know how it happened, but somehow Konan was off with Sakura, meeting new people and learning about each other. He was happy that they got along.

"Come on, Dai! You have to meet some people!" Naruto said, tugging on Pein's wrist.

It was odd. Pein liked Naruto. What a shame he was the container for the nine-tailed-fox. Pein found himself more and more reluctant to kill him as the day progressed.

"Dai, this is Neji Hyuuga and Rock Lee, or Lee," Naruto said.

Neji was a reasonably tall man with long brown hair and Hyuuga eyes. He seemed solemn and smart.

Lee was about the opposite. He wore a tight green shirt and dark green pants with orange lines that held tightly to him. Pein remembered him in the bounty book by his caterpillar eyebrows and pudding bowl haircut.

"Nice to meet you, Dai," Neji said, shaking his hand.

"It is most youthful to meet you, youthful Dai!" Lee shouted.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and grinned when Pein turned his head in an exasperated manner towards him.

"Eh, hi Lee," Naruto said.

"Youthful Naruto-kun! It is great to see you this youthful day!" Lee said.

"Yeah, hey, Gai-sensei was looking for you."

"He is? I shall be back, youthful Naruto-kun!" Lee said before running off.

Neji shook his head.

"He seems…um, nice?" Pein said.

"He is, but he's very eccentric," Neji said.

"Hey, Neji?" Naruto asked.

"What?"

"What does that mean?"

Pein inwardly chuckled. Naruto could be as dense as a door, but he was so…friendly.

Neji sighed and shook his head.

"Never mind."

Sakura walked around with Harumi. They had just finished talking to Ten-Ten. Sakura liked Harumi. She was nice and friendly.

"Hey, Harumi, why don't we go find Ino and tell her that you're here?"

Sakura thought she saw Harumi stiffen, but it was gone a moment later.

"Oh, I already said hi to her when I got here. We were lucky and ran into her instantly."

"Oh, okay."

"So, have you met Tsunade-sama yet? I don't think you have."

"Oh! The Hokage, right?"

"Yeah."

"She's a great woman," Harumi said. In reality, she thought that Tsunade was a bit self-centered, but she did protect the Konoha people, so she wasn't sure anymore.

"You've met?"

Sakura felt that Harumi was hiding something, but ignored it. Maybe there was a secret about her and Dai's relationship, or the Waterfall country.

"Somewhat."

"Well, come on. She's nice. I'm sure you'll like her," Sakura said, pulling Harumi along.

"Um, okay."

"How long are you staying here, anyway?" Sakura asked.

"Not sure. Probably about two or three days. Dai and I want to see Konoha a little bit, you know?"

"Yeah. Oh! There she is," Sakura exclaimed. She hurried over to her master, dragging Harumi along behind her.

"Tsunade-shishou!"

Tsunade turned.

"Ah, Sakura! Who's this?"

"This is Harumi. She's from the Waterfall Country."

"Ah. Nice to meet you, Harumi," Tsunade said, shaking her hand.

"You too, Lady Tsunade."

It was clear to Sakura that Tsunade had either never seen Harumi or didn't remember her, even though+ Harumi seemed to remember her.

The girls chatted a bit before Harumi said she needed to get back to Dai.

Sakura nodded her understanding and set off to find Naruto, who would be the most likely to know where Dai was.

"Sakura!"

Sakura turned to see Iruka. He waved at her and she smiled at him.

"Come on, Harumi. Just this one more person I want you to meet."

Sakura made her way over the academy teacher.

"Hey, Iruka-senpai!" Sakura smiled.

"Sakura-chan, it's good to see you. Who's your friend?"

"This is Harumi. She's from the Waterfall Country."

"Hello," Harumi said politely.

"Hi. I'm Iruka. I was Sakura's teacher back at the academy."

"He still teaches there."

"Yes, but I'll always miss the students that grow up on me. Like Naruto, for an example. I'm pretty sure he was the biggest prankster to ever come around."

"Naruto was?" Harumi asked.

"Yeah. The first time we met our sensei, Kakashi, Naruto set up an eraser by the door and it fell on his head. Sasuke and I were shocked that it worked. Of course, Kakashi didn't find it amusing."

They all chuckled and talked for a bit before they departed to find Dai.

"I wonder where Naruto could be," Harumi said.

"Oh, that's no problem. He'll be by the food."

Sure enough, Sakura was right. Naruto was slurping down his ninth bowl of ramen with Hinata, who had barely finished her first. Dai was sitting with them.

"Hey," Sakura greeted.

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted through slurps.

"Harumi needed to find Dai, and I figured he'd be with you."

"Oh, okay! Wanna have some ramen?"

The party was coming to an end. It was late, and some people were drunk. Pein was pleased to note that although Sakura had had a few drinks, she was still sober. Pein hadn't had anything to drink and neither had Konan. It was vital that they didn't drink.

On the other hand, Naruto and Kiba were ridiculously drunk and Neji was swaying a bit. Lee hadn't been allowed to drink. A few other people were drunk, but not too badly. Pein saw the Hokage pack away a few bottles of sake, but she wasn't as drunk as Naruto. Not even Kisame could do what she had.

"Well, people, party's over!" Ino shouted. Pein had learned who she was and avoided her.

People began leaving. Pein bid good-bye to Hinata Hyuuga, who was helping Naruto home, and Sakura. He couldn't wait to see her again, which would be soon. Konan had made dinner plans for the following day with her.

Konan tugged on his arm.

"Come on, love. Let's get going."

Pein nodded and with a final glance at his sister, who was helping Shino with Kiba, he left.

"I like Sakura," Konan said softly on the way to a motel.

"I'm happy to know she's a nice person and that you two get along," Pein told her softly.

"She's easy to get along with, and it seemed like everyone liked her at the party."

"Hai. It seemed like many people also liked Naruto." Pein couldn't bring himself to call Naruto 'The Kyuubi Boy'. He reminded him so much of Yahiko; bright, loud, happy, and friendly.

"It seems that his greatest ambition is to become Hokage. It is a noble goal."

"It is."

Konan didn't push the subject. She knew that Pein was growing attached to the lovable blonde, and she couldn't blame him. She herself liked him and Sakura. Konan knew that Pein was already having regrets about killing him, even though it hadn't happened.

"You know, you don't have to control the world through the war trade," Konan said softly.

Pein sighed. How come she always knew what was bugging him?

"…I know. But it's the only way for peace."

Konan remained silent, but he could sense her arguments to it. They'd been through this before. She didn't like removing the demons from the poor souls who contained them, but she did it anyway. Pein didn't like it very much, either, but he desired peace more than he desired to save the people. Yahiko had desired peace.

The couple remained silent until they reached a motel. It wasn't a five-star, but it was probably three. Maybe two. Pein had a reasonable amount of cash on him, but didn't want to waste it on luxury. He knew that Kakuzu wouldn't be happy, and that was one person he didn't want to deal with.

"Hello," a girl greeted from behind the counter. She had long dark hair and navy blue eyes, which she batted flirtatiously at him. "What can I get you?"

Pein caught the double meaning in her words.

"One room," Pein said, ignoring her. He caught Konan's tenser stance.

"Of course. One bed or two?"

"One."

The girl seemed to realize that Pein wasn't interested, so she resigned to just handing him the key.

Pein and Konan walked to their room. They had very little baggage on them.

After they showered, washing the dye from their hair, they lay down to go to sleep.

Pein heard Konan fall into unconsciousness, but he remained awake, thinking about Sakura. Sakura was a cheerful, kind person. She knew about her adoption, she got along well with Konan, and she knew about Shuensha.

After turning the thoughts of the day over in his head, Pein closed his eyes and rested.

**Sooooooooooooooooooooooo??????????? How was it? Good? Next chapter Sakura will find out about 'Dai and Harumi' being Pein/Nagato and Konan. Thanks for reading and please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please review! It makes my day and helps my upload faster!**

**Oh, and sorry that she didn't end up with the Akatsuki. She will next chapter, I swear!**


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